A superb first-half performance from DHL Western Province saw them cruise to a comfortable 44-28 (halftime 34-14) win over the Fidelity ADT Lions in their Currie Cup opener at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday afternoon.
Province flyhalf Kade Wolhuter put in a stand-out man-of-the-match performance with a wonderful day with the boot seeing him slot five conversions and three penalties for a haul of 19 points, while he attacked the line well and his kicking out of hand was impressive in a top showing.
It was an action-packed start to the match as Province opened the scoring with an early mauled try to hooker Scarra Ntubeni, converted by Wolhuter, followed by the Lions hitting back with a counterattacking try to wing Boldwin Hansen, converted by flyhalf Vaughen Isaacs.
Province then took charge as a huge Wolhuter penalty from near touch inside his own half was followed by a training ground move from a lineout on the Lions 22m, ending with flank Marcel Theunissen crashing over next to the uprights and a 17-7 lead after 21 minutes.
An unfortunate collision in the air then saw Province centre Juan de Jongh yellow carded, giving the Lions an extra man which they utilised to send the ball one way and back the next for Hansen to go over for his second in the corner, converted by Isaacs to make it 17-14.
Despite being down a man, Province then dominated the rest of the time with a man short and the rest of the half as eighthman Keke Morabe dotted down from a powerful maul, Wolhuter knocked over another long-range penalty and replacement Suileman Hartzenberg ghosted over in the corner.
This gave the visitors a big 34-14 lead after 35 minutes, which they took into the halftime break.
Needing to score first to get themselves back into the match, the Lions dominated the opening 15 minutes of the half, with good play in the Province half leading to a host of penalties, with Morabe being yellow carded after too many infringements.
However, despite all their chances, the Lions couldn’t capitalise on them, with Province showing them how it’s done as they converted another opportunity.
They set up a lineout in the Lions' 22m. Their maul stopped short, but replacement hooker Andre-Hugo Venter picked up and powered over for a converted score as they moved 41-14 up after 65 minutes.
This finally sparked the Lions into action and three minutes later they worked their way into the visitors' 22m, just short of the line, where replacement forward Raynard Roets forced his way over from close range, and Isaacs converted to make it 41-21.
Another penalty from the boot of Wolhuter extended the visitors' lead with seven minutes to play, but the Lions had the final say as replacement back Nico Steyn quick-tapped a penalty in the Province 22m and crashed over for the final score of the game.
SCORERS
LIONS: Tries - Boldwin Hansen (2), Raynard Roets, Nico Steyn; Conversions - Vaughen Isaacs (4)
WESTERN PROVINCE: Tries - Scarra Ntubeni, Marcel Theunissen, Keke Morabe, Suileman Hartzenberg, Ande-Hugo Venter; Conversions - Kade Wolhuter (5); Penalties - Wolhuter (2)